China's Xi Jinping lands at Paris airport on controversial state visit

• Macron is expected to push Xi to influence Moscow to end the war in Ukraine
• Macron will also warn Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its Ukraine invasion

Chinese President Xi Jinping has landed in France for a controversial state visit in which French leader Emmanuel Macron is expected to push his counterpart to use his influence on Putin to move towards the end of the war in Ukraine.

Xi and his wife his wife Peng Liyuan, landed at Paris Orly airport on Sunday afternoon and were welcomed by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Xi is to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday, also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, followed by a state banquet hosted by Macron.

Macron will then on Tuesday take Xi to an area of the Pyrenees mountains that he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public and more intimate talks.

A key priority of Macron will be to warn Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in arms production.

Xi’s arrival for the visit, which marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China, is the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019. He is also scheduled to visit Serbia and Hungary.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife his wife Peng Liyuan, landed at Paris Orly airport on Sunday afternoon. The couple are pictured waving from their plane as this disembark

Footage captured at the airport shows Xi and Peng disembarking from the plane as his huge entourage of staff carry their bags

France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (centre-left) greets China’s President Xi Jinping (centre-right) and his wife Peng Liyuan upon their arrival for an official two-day state visit, at Orly airport, south of Paris on May 5, 2024

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left) greets President Xi Jinping (right) upon his arrival for an official two-day state visit. Xi’s arrival marks the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019

The Air China branded plane carrying Xi, his wife and their staff had touched down at Orly airport in Paris on Sunday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

Members of France’s Republican Guard lined up on both sides of a red carpet as the couple prepared to exit the plane.

Footage captured at the airport shows Xi and Peng disembarking from the plane as his huge entourage of staff carry their bags.

Attal greeted the couple upon their arrival for the official two-day state visit. Photographs show the politic leaders smiling as they engage in conversation.

Analysts say Xi’s choice of France as the sole major European power to visit on his trip indicates the relative warmth in Sino-French relations since Macron made his own state visit to China in April 2023 and acknowledges the French leader’s stature as an EU powerbroker.

But Macron last week argued that Europe must defend its ‘strategic interests’ in its economic relations with China, accusing Beijing of not respecting the rules on international trade.

‘It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order,’ said Macron in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday.

‘We must, therefore, work with China to build peace,’ he added.

Members of France’s Republican Guard lined up on both sides of a red carpet an aircraft carrying China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan taxis after Paris Orly airport

Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan (centre) are welcomed by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left) at Orly airport, south of Paris, on Sunday

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and his wife Peng Liyuan (centre) are welcome by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (right) as they arrive at Orly airport on Sunday

Photographs show President Xi Jinping (left) and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (right) smiling as they engage in conversation at Orly airport

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal waits to greet China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife, as they arrive for a two-day state visit

Beijing’s ties with Moscow have, if anything, warmed after the invasion and the West wants China above all not to supply weapons to Russia and risk tipping the balance in the conflict.

But Macron acknowledged in an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that Europeans are ‘not unanimous’ on the strategy to adopt as ‘certain actors still see China essentially as a market of opportunities’ while it ‘exports massively’ to Europe.

The French president had gladdened Chinese state media and troubled some EU allies after his 2023 visit by declaring that Europe should not be drawn into a standoff between China and the United States, particularly over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan.

China views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.

‘The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,’ Macron said at the time, warning against a ‘bloc versus bloc logic’.

Activists have also urged Macron to bring up human rights in the talks, accusing China of failing to respect the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority and keeping dozens of journalists behind bars.

‘President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,’ said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.

The group said human rights in China had ‘severely deteriorated’ under Xi’s rule.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal walks towards the aeroplane carrying China’s President and his wife, as they arrive for a two-day state visit, at Orly airport, south of Paris on May 5, 2024

China’s President Xi Jinping holds the hand of his wife Peng Liyuan as they disembark at Orly airport, south of Paris, on Sunday, May 5, 2024

A huge entourage of staff are pictured carrying bags, some of which are believed to belong to China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife

France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal waits to greet China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife

Chinese President Xi Jinping is welcomed by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at Orly airport, south of Paris, on Sunday, May 5, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) kicked off a three-country trip to Europe on Sunday. He was greeted at Orly airport by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (right). French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) will seek to press China’s Xi Jinping to use his influence on Moscow to move towards the end of the war in Ukraine

However, analysts remain sceptical that Macron will be able to exercise much sway over the Chinese leader, despite the lavish red carpet welcome and trip to the bracing mountain airs of the Col du Tourmalet over 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) above sea level on Tuesday.

The other two countries chosen by Xi for his tour, Serbia and Hungary, are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.

‘The two core messages from Macron will be on Chinese support to Russia’s military capabilities and Chinese market-distorting practices,’ said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

‘However, both messages are unlikely to have a significant impact on Chinese behaviour: Xi is not on a mission to repair ties, because from his point of view all is well.’

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